Paris: Islamic State fighters hiding among refugees travelling from Libya to Italy pose a “major risk” to Europe, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday.
Le Drian said there was an “urgent” need for a political solution to the crisis in Libya to help combat the spread of the Islamic State group (IS), which now has several thousand fighters in the North African country. “Daesh is installing itself,” Le Drian told French TV, using the Arabic acronym for the IS group. “I have been very worried about Libya since September 2014. They are there, nearly 300 kilometres from the coast, and they are spreading.”He said that put IS only 350 kms from the Italian island of Lampedusa, the arrival point for thousands of migrants and refugees leaving Libya for the EU.
